1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to hip and ridge shingles for covering the hip and ridge connections on the pitched roof of buildings and houses, and more specifically, to a novel design of a hip and ridge roofing shingle capable of being transformed between a plurality of configurations such as a bull-nose configuration and straight edge configuration.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
The building industry commonly uses hip and ridge shingles to cover the hips and ridges of various building structures. Conventional hip and ridge shingles have configurations that allow them to cover angled areas of a roof structure. Several asphalt ridge shingles of various shapes and folding patterns have been proposed for peaks of pitched or gabled roofs to provide for water-impermeability and pleasing appearance. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,913,294 discloses a tapered asphalt ridge cover comprising a plurality of folds perpendicular to, and approximately midway down the longitudinal axis of the ridge cover with a fold at the front and to produce a small lip with asphalt adhesive on the lower surface of the front end. Another example is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,771, which discloses a ridge cover with first and second tapered portions in which the cover is formed by folding the unit such that the second tapered portion overlaps the first tapered portion. Yet another example is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,365,711, which teaches a ridge cover composed of a particular composition containing a flexibility adhesive in which the roofing sheet is folded back on itself twice in the intermediate portion of the sheet in order to form a thickened portion midway the length of the sheet with inner sections extending forwardly and rearwardly from the thickened portion. The ridge cover further comprises a T-shaped slit extending through the thickened portion of the unit.